Ballarat breakfast report | Monday, October 17, 2016

Photo of the day: Simply upload your photo each day with the hashtag #ballarat to be in the running for your photo to appear. Today's #picoftheday is by @suziesslk – Lake Wendouree.

Good morning Ballarat!

We're in for a partly cloudy day with a high (70%) chance of showers, most likely this evening. Expect a top of 13 degrees in Ballarat.

New Webster Street medical clinic approved despite objections

A medical clinic with 35 new car parks will be built at a heritage-listed Webster Street property, despite residents’ objections. Read more here.

Goliath the dog rescued after spending three hours stuck in a Buninyong drain

When Goliath ran after a cat no one expected the two would still be together when they were rescued from a Buninyong drain three hours later. But that’s exactly what occurred to the eight-year-old jack russell on Sunday morning. Read more here.

Brown Hill family has $20,000 worth of tools stolen

It was the sound of the dog barking in the early hours of Friday morning that alerted a Brown Hill family to thieves stealing a trailer and tools. Read more here.

Light and colours festival

The community came together for a colourful night of performances, festivities and dancing to celebrate Diwali. The Festival of Lights is one of most anticipated events of the year in the Hindu community and the Ballarat Indian Association held its own special celebration at Wendouree’s Cooinda Centre on Saturday night. Read more here.

Beaufort lands former-Swan Stapleton

Beaufort has acquired the services of Ballarat Swans onballer Tom Stapleton for the 2017 Central Highlands Football League season. Read more here.

State of the nation

Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.

► LOTTAH: A man has been shot dead and another is in custody after a dispute between neighbours, police say. A 65-year-old man has been charged with murder after a 45-year-old man was found dead on a property at Lottah, near Weldborough. More here.

► WAGGA WAGGA: A costly report explaining why council’s former planning director left Wagga under a corruption cloud has been suppressed for four months. Wagga’s new mayor Greg Conkey has conceded the city’s residents have been “let down” by secrecy shrouding former high-ranking council official Andrew Crakanthorp’s controversial departure. More here.

Four months after a costly investigation wrapped up, ratepayers still haven't been told why they had to cover legal fees and 20 weeks of forced leave on full pay for former planning director Andrew Crakanthorp.

► PORT FAIRY: Fisherman Daniel Hoey has seen great white sharks in the area before, but never this close up. The owner and operator of Salty Dog Fishing Charters in Port Fairy was chartering a private booking last Thursday when he was forced to fend off a shark with a humble broom after it sunk its teeth into his boat motor. More here.

Port fairy fisherman and Salty Dog Charter owner Daniel Hoey says losing a cage full of burley to a great white shark was the least he was worried about at the time.

► RICHMOND: Two Queensland families holidaying in the remote outback town of Richmond have together uncovered an exceptionally rare skeleton of a 100 million-year-old fish with an incredible swordfish-like head and monstrous teeth. More here.

The rare skeleton of a 100 million-year-old fish with a swordfish-like head and monstrous teeth discovered near Richmond.

► BENDIGO: A police sergeant has described an incident involving two Eaglehawk brothers over the weekend as the “closest brush with death” he has seen in four decades in the force. More here.

Sergeant Van Andel said motorists should be fully aware of the potentially fatal consequences of driving in extreme weather events.

► MUSWELLBROOK: A Hunter Valley man working in his backyard shed has survived a bite from a death adder, one of the world’s most venomous snakes. More here.

A death adder has bitten a man in his backyard Hunter shed.

► YEOVAL: The heroic and selfless actions of a passing motorist saved the lives of a father and son after their vehicle crashed into a tree on the Renshaw McGirr Way at on Saturday. More here.

A heroic motorist saved a father and son from this burning car near Yeoval on Saturday. Photo: TOP NOTCH VIDEO

► ALBURY: A District Court judge has sharply rebuked vandals who attacked the car of a man caught with child abuse photographs. Chris Hoy, SC, said there simply was “no room in our society” for such vigilante behaviour. More here.

► BATHURST: A farmer will have to foot the $1000 bill to remove asbestos dumped on his property by a driver who crashed through his fence. More here.

James Stewart's father, Peter Stewart, with asbestos laden material left behind at the propery after a road accident recently. Photo:CHRIS SEABROOK

National news

► Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been drawn into a deepening row between the country's two most senior lawyers after he was asked to confirm the government's chief legal adviser ticked off on a controversial bill allowing terrorists to be held in jail beyond their sentence. More here.

Malcolm Turnbull has been asked for his assurance the Solicitor-General advised on a controversial terror bill. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

► Cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos has launched an attack on Labor's choice of former union official Kimberley Kitching​ to replace Stephen Conroy in the Senate, saying she had been referred for "further investigation" by the Heydon royal commission into union misconduct. More here.

► Women under the age of 25 gain little benefit from Pap smears according to a study that supports the federal government's decision to scrap cervical screening in younger women. More here.

A pathologist analyses an abnormal Pap smear. Photo: Eamon Gallagher

► Almost 80 per cent of Australians think governments should insist that all new housing developments contain dedicated affordable housing, according to a new survey. More here.

The government's plan to build 10,000 homes at Olympic Park should include affordable units, according to the community housing sector. Photo: Supplied

National weather radar

International news

► BANGKOK: The coronation of Thailand's Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn will be delayed more than a year as Thais mourn the death of their long-reigning king, Bhumibol Adulyadej. More here.

A military unit inside The Grand Palace following the death of King Bhumibol. Photo: Kate Geraghty

► TAIPEI: When Chinese tourists come to Taiwan, they don't go out at night. They stay in their hotel rooms so they can watch the talk shows, and marvel at the spectacle of citizens openly criticising and questioning their leaders: an entertainment not widely offered in mainland China. More here.

On this day

The faces of Australia: John and Gloria Moore

Port Macquarie residents Gloria and John Moore celebrate 70 years of marriage.

JOHN and Gloria Moore pledged their commitment to each other 70 years ago during a wedding ceremony in Wollongong.

The date of their nuptials was October 12, 1946.

In that year, Ben Chifley was the Prime Minister, The Overlanders, starring Chips Rafferty, was released, the bikini debuted in Paris and Tupperware was introduced in the US. Read more here.